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Adobe Captivate: Repurpose Preferences

by Kevin Siegel

Have you ever visited the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Captivate (Windows users, Edit > Preferences; Mac users, Adobe Captivate > Preferences), made several changes and later, maybe months later, needed those settings on another computer running Captivate? I'm betting your answer is yes, and you've had a tough time ensuring the Preferences in one project match those in another.

When I teach Adobe Captivate, I try to stress the value of creating a project template (and creating templates from scratch is a big part of my Captivate 6 Advanced class). If you set the Preferences within a Captivate template and then use the template when you create new projects, the Preferences will match from one project to the next. However, you can create perfectly nice Captivate projects without a template. In that case, understanding how get Preferences from one project into another is useful.

For instance, in the images below, I accessed the Preferences dialog box and set the Preferences on some of the screens.

In the Project Information area, I added information about the Author (Biff, as usual, gets all the credit around here), Company name, Project Name and the Description.

In the SWF Size and Quality area, I set the quality to Medium.

From the Project Start and End area, I added the company logo as the Preloader, set the Preloader % to 50, enabled Fade In on the First Slide, and set the Project End Options.

I also visited the Publish Settings and changed the Frames Per Second to 20 (30 is the default) and disabled both Enable Accessibility and Play tap audio for recorded typing.

Setting each of the Preferences above wasn't difficult. In fact, it took perhaps 2-3 minutes to set everything. However, since having to memorize all of the settings isn't something I look forward to on a project-by-project basis, the ability to export this project's Preferences is going to be quite nice.

Export Project Preferences

1. Open a Captivate project and set your Preferences.
2. Choose File > Export > Preferences to open the Save As dialog box.
3. Pick a save destination for the Preferences file and, in the File Name field, give the file a name. (Note: The Preferences are exported as a .cpr file.)
4. Click Save.

Import Project Preferences

1. Open another Captivate project (or create a new project).
2. Choose File > Import > Preferences.
3. Locate and open the .cpr file you exported.

After the import process, browse the Preferences in the project. You'll notice that most (but not all) of the Preferences exported from the first project have been imported into the current project.

Note: If you'd like to see the process of working with a project's Preferences, check out my video demonstration on our YouTube channel.

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Looking to learn Captivate quickly? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate 6 classes each month includingIntroduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate.

eLearning & Training: Casting Cross-Cultural Voice-Over Talents

by Jen Weaver

Adding voice-overs to your eLearning lessons can increase the interaction a learner has with your content, often boosting the lesson's overall effectiveness.

Providing high-quality voice-overs is a tremendous feat in only one language or accent. It can grow into a monumental task when including regional dialects or alternate languages. Here are some facets to consider when casting cross-cultural voice talents.

• The desired voice-over role. A voice talent may function as a narrator, instructor, spokesperson, or actor in a storyline.
• The preferred demographics. This includes the age and gender being portrayed.
• The language, dialect and accent. This may go without saying, but the voice talent must be fluent in whatever language your eLearning materials will be provided in. Beyond the language requirement, there are also dialects and accents that may impact how your message is received by your intended audience. For example, English voice-overs may be provided in English (language) for the United States (dialect) with a southern twang (accent). It is valuable to identify how important accent accuracy is to your project. Many people may impersonate accents that seem acceptable to an unfamiliar listener but are entirely inaccurate (and even offensive) to recipients from that area. For example, a poorly executed fake accent may decrease receptivity from your target audience. Additional dialect and accent examples include:
  • Chinese in Mandarin (commonly referred to as "Northern dialect") perhaps with a Beijing accent.
  • Portuguese for Portugal.
  • Spanish for Latin America.
• The desired tone. The voice may be conveyed in a playful manner, factually, formally or informally.
• Localization of the voice-over script. Depending on your content, it may be valuable to localize the script for the target location, changing phrases or vernacular to be more conducive to that area. This can be done formally before the script is provided to the talent; or you may simply allow the talent discretion to make minor changes (such as changing "pop" to "soda") directly as they see fit.
• Voice-over experience. Ideal voice talents have multiple years in the industry and in providing the type of voice-over services necessary for your project.

The key for casting cross-cultural voice-over talents is to include appropriate requirements in your initial project scope. You should also allow time for your language service vendor to gather demos for approval as a part of the overall project timeline. Keep these facets in mind and you can rest assured that you will find the perfect talents for your project.

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If you would like to learn best practices for managing translation projects, contact Jen at Carmazzi Global Solutions.

eLearning and Training: The Basics of Translation & Localization

by Jen Weaver

For many training professionals, the translation of support materials is a fairly new task. If you're unfamiliar with it, translation can emerge as a large and daunting task. But it doesn't have to be! Understanding some common translation terminology and defining the basic scope for your project will equip you for success.

First, let's break down the terms relative to translation:

Translation: The rendering of written communication from one language into another.

Localization: The process of adapting a product (in the context of translation, usually software) to a specific locale, i.e., to the language, cultural norms, standards, laws and requirements of the target market. Includes, but is not limited to, translation of the screen texts and help files.

Source language: Language used in the original text file.

Target language: Language into which text is to be translated.

Source file: The original living document that is going to be translated. This is not a PDF of the file, but the actual file itself (i.e. Captivate, Storyline, Camtasia, Word, PowerPoint, XML, HTML, FrameMaker, InDesign, QuarkXPress, etc.) including any appropriate links, fonts and graphics.

There are several key facets included in the scope of any successful translation or localization project. It's ok if you don't know exactly what you want upfront... your language vendor can help you identify exactly what is needed for your project. Here are some general guidelines to help you identify the project scope:

• What flavor of the target language is needed? For example there can be translation in Spanish for Spain, Spanish for Mexico, Spanish for Latin America or a more Universal Spanish.
• Who is the target audience? This includes any specific requirements for tone or literacy level as well as an awareness of the audience demographics.
• Is the source file available? It is ideal to translate from the source file rather than a PDF or uneditable version. If the source file is not available, or no longer exists, vendors can work around this but it will likely result in additional time and cost for completion.
• Are translators to adhere to the grammar and punctuation rules of the target language, or to keep the translation consistent with English rules? For example five thousand is written as 5,000 in the USA but 5.000 in most other countries.
• What is your deadline? An average project is completed at a rate of 2,500 words per day, with a few additional days for formatting and final QA. If you need your project expedited it is helpful to identify this timeline upfront.

When broken down into its parts, translation can be a straightforward task completed with great ease and result in high levels of success for your target markets. Happy translating!

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If you would like to learn best practices for managing translation projects, contact Jen at Carmazzi Global Solutions.

eLearning and Training: How Does Language Impact Learning?

by Jen Weaver 

Let's be frank, most people know at least some English.  It is one of the most common languages in the World, and many countries outside of the U.S. teach English in schools as standard curriculum.  Given these facts, it can be difficult to justify the expense of translation for training materials, especially when your learners are able to communicate in English with marginal clarity. So the question remains: what benefit does translation bring to your students?

It is not a stretch to assume that it is easier for students to learn when materials are provided in their first language; however, research indicates that the consequences of monolingual education for bilingual students may be harsher than previously realized.

Difficulties Second Language Learners May Experience

• Learners may lack knowledge of English grammar and syntax. In this case, they will read text word-by-word, resulting in lower overall comprehension.
• There may be challenges for learners when reading idiomatic expressions and unfamiliar grammatical construction, especially with more complex sentence structures.
• There may be too much unfamiliar vocabulary to grasp the overall concept.  Learners may also lack appropriate "repair strategies" to use when meaning is lost or misinterpretations occur.
• Connectives may be overlooked or misunderstood, resulting in a loss of the relationships between concepts and ideas.
• Learners may not be familiar with a specific genre, story "grammar" or the literary devices used in text.
• Symbols may differ.

From a Cultural Standpoint, These Factors May Come Into Play

• Different conceptual frameworks may misguide the learner's reading.
• Cause and consequence chains can differ and/or be more emotional, evoking strong reactions in the reader.
• Second language readers often use strategies that are applicable to the orthographic system and the grammatical and syntactic patterns of their first language. These may or may not transfer into the second language text.

These challenges, together with the finding of other published research, support the view that educational materials provided in the student's second language are not as effective as those given in the student's first language. Additionally, second language readers consistently fail to realize how much of what they think they understand is, in fact, wrong. Translation voids these learning obstacles by making materials available in the first language of learners, thereby increasing comprehension, retention and application; thus adding a substantial return on investment for translation. Indirectly, this benefits your rapport and customer satisfaction as a training professional as you enable clients to better educate second language learners.

What is your experience with the impact of language on training? We'd love to see your comments below. 

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If you would like to learn best practices for managing translation projects, contact Jen at Carmazzi Global Solutions.

Online Training: What's Up With MOOCs?

by AJ George 

A few weeks ago I talked about online training and posed the question: How big is too big? This week I want to focus on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). If any training method is too big, certainly it would have to be the one with "Massive" right there in its name, right? Well, maybe not. I've been doing some research and have found that there is a LOT of information floating around out there. I thought it might be useful to bring you a concise shakedown on what's up with all these MOOCs.

First, if you're a video person, check out this video by Neal Gillis in which Dave Comier, one of the people who founded the term MOOC, gives a good explanation.

If you're not a video person, I'll break it down. A MOOC, at its root form, is open to the public and costs nothing. It is catered to those with self-discipline and a desire to learn. There is not necessarily anything special about the content, but in the case of the MOOC, the course content is paced. Reading and topics are partitioned into weeks. You needn't go through all the material, but it's all there and the assumption is that you are self-motivated enough to want to get through it. Then you share your thoughts on the material through blogs and social networks. Ideally everything will be hash-tagged so it can be easily found and shared among participants. Alternatively, student responses will be gathered in a Learning Management System (LMS) where all the participants can access them. In short: A MOOC is a knowledge-base elaborated through chat, completion of assignments, and feedback by a group of self-motivated people who are interested in the topic.

Of course, there's more to MOOCs. If you'd like to dig a bit deeper, here is some further reading. 

MOOCs continue to spread through high-brow institutions:

More Prestigious Colleges Offer Courses Online

And into high schools as well:

University of Miami Offers First Free Online Class to 
High School Students to Prepare for the SAT

Some MOOCs are set up to steer students to paid follow-up courses to receive professional certificates:

eCornell Offers a MOOC that Steers Students to a Paid Follow-Up

Harvard Law School is chucking out the "M" for "Massive" in its Copyright MOOC, and allowing only 500 students (as opposed to the 100,000 who were in Harvard's first MOOC offering): 

Should All Massive Open Online Courses Follow Harvard Law School's Move By Limiting Class Size?

And while we're at it, how big is too big for online training classes in general?

Online Training: How Big is Too Big?

Are MOOCs breeding grounds for cheaters? Does it matter?

Dozens of Plagiarism Incidents Are Reported in Coursera's Free Online Courses

Running your own MOOC? Here's how to manage it: 

Managing High-Enrollment Online Courses

Some fear the push for MOOCs will not lead to the edu-topia we all dream of (don't we?), but instead an industry led by venture capitalists that is neither free nor innovative: 

Size Isn't Everything: For academe's future, think mash-ups not MOOC's

And maybe that time is already here, as some places are already offering pared down versions of their courses, marketing them as similar to MOOCs, and charging money (but also giving credit) for them: 

"MOOCs" for Credit Come to California

So there you have it. If you're not all MOOCed out, I'd love to read your comments. Have you participated in a MOOC? Are you thinking about it? Is this a fad? Will they be able to keep this free and innovative? Would you argue that it's not innovative at all?

eLearning and Documentation: To Translate or not to Translate... That is the Question!

by Jen Weaver 

As global reach expands and local diversity increases, interactions with coworkers, employees, or clients bring us in contact with those who speak different languages. As a result, we are faced with the new demands of a diversified audience coupled with tight budgets, limited time and in an overall downturned economy. Achieving a high return on investment from your training, eLearning, and communication initiatives is extremely important, starting with the initial decision: to translate or not to translate?

Before starting a translation project, you must first determine what business requirements the project will address. Some questions to consider upfront:

What's your goal?

For example, is the implementation of translation going to contribute to reaching sales targets, meeting legal requirements, to better educate staff, or are there other obligations? In short, what is the desired return on this investment?

What caused the need for translation?

Is this a current need or are you working in consideration of future goals? Can translation be postponed until a later date or is it imperative that you start the process now?

Can you have optimal success without translation?

Is translation a nicety or necessity? Is translation a pre-existing expectation of your target audience? If the answer to this question has yet to be determined, perhaps developing a test group or pilot translation strategy would be beneficial before establishing a long-term policy.

What's the long-term goal?

Consider your ongoing translation and localization plan, including project sequence and potential support needs. How does this project fit into long-term translation strategies?

What's your budget?

Determine your budget for translation in light of the desired results and your business needs. Translation and localization cost is the opportunity cost to reach your desired target market or achieve your business goals in a diverse sector. A secondary question to consider here is "How much of this cost can be absorbed internally?" While bilingual staff members may be able to complete an internal quality assurance review, be careful not to assume too great a risk by using staff members to translate if this is outside of their intended job description. While they are familiar with your company, you may sacrifice the expertise a professional translation company can provide, and this approach could end up costing you more in the long run.

Are you set up for victory?

Unrealistic budgetary restrictions or diminished turn-around times may limit your service quality and mitigate your expected results. For optimal success, work with your translation project manager to determine realistic expectations for budget and project timelines."

Answering these questions will start you off with a firm foundation to support future translation success.

 

Look before you leap, otherwise you may need to heed this bad translation blunder and carefully slip and fall down.

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If you would like to learn best practices for managing translation projects, contact Jen at Carmazzi Global Solutions.

Online Training: How Big is Too Big?

by AJ George 

In the early days of software training, many professional trainers that I've talked with said that the perfect onsite class size was eight to 10 students. For groups of 10 or more, it was a standard practice to bring in a backup trainer. The role of the backup trainer was to assist any students who might have fallen behind the instructor, or simply assist those students in need of a bit of extra help. If the class size was larger than 15 students, many training companies would split the class into manageable sizes, requiring multiple rooms and multiple lead instructors.

Then came webinars. Because of their laissez-faire style, webinar facilitators can, and often do, preach to audiences of hundreds... perhaps thousands. Those in attendance need only log in to the webinar's website on a given date and time, and watch and listen.

For a quick and wide dispersal of lecture-type content, webinars are great. But what about learning that needs a more hands-on approach, such as learning a program like Adobe Captivate or Techsmith Camtasia Studio? Live, online training fits the bill, but at its inception, the general rule was to keep the online class size small (under six students). If you recall, I mentioned that the perfect online class size was eight to 10 students. Why was it that an online class size needed to be smaller? It was initially believed that there would be technological issues that could accompany online classes. It was also feared that large online classes would gobble up bandwidth and hinder the online experience for everyone. In addition, there weren't any guidelines how how best to engage the online student. Should you call on them directly? If you did ask a student a question, would Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) be reliable enough for two-way communication? If voice communications failed, could you rely on typing (most training programs call the area where you type messages to fellow attendees the chat pod) to effectively communicate, collaborate and engage?

Over the years, as the technology for online classes has improved, so has the experience for instructors and learners alike. At IconLogic, we regularly teach large online classes. In fact, one of our instructors, Kevin Siegel, recalls teaching a live, online course to a group of more than 100 students. While there were no issues with the class, Kevin admitted that it was a bit of a gamble to teach an interactive course to that many online students, and he said that allowing triple-digit attendees is not ideal.

"For me, the online class size can be larger than an onsite class thanks to the ability to screen share," said Siegel. "I think the perfect online class size is 12-15 students. Even though that would be a very large class if it were onsite, it's easy to manage online. I can quickly make any student in an online class the presenter. Once a student shows their screen, I can see what they see and fix any problems. In fact, I can usually screen share and fix problems online far faster than I can when I am in a physical classroom. In a physical classroom,  I have to leave my station, race over to the student's workstation, fix the issue, and then dash back."

Jennie Ruby, our writing and grammar instructor, said that "Today's tools for online training enable us to create a social environment much like a live classroom, where students know that the instructor and the other students are expecting their participation. Tools allowing for the ability of students to indicate with an on-screen marker if they have been called away from their desk, to indicate that they have a question, to privately message the instructor, and of course, to use a microphone and speak to the entire class help create the sense of presence and accountability. Frequent requests for interaction keeps each participant involved with the lesson."

Ruby said that her online students aren't allowed to be a "troll" in the class, merely listening without participating. The knowledge that they will be called upon in turn guarantees that they will not merely leave the screen and work on email while idly listening.

"In my experience, we can create this kind of social classroom experience with up to about 15 people. After that point, it simply takes too much time to call upon each student, and there is a sense of anonymity by the students," said Ruby. "The participation of each individual is no longer as important. I draw the line at about 15 to 18 students. That is the boundary between a live, interactive class and a lecture-style webinar."

Now the hype is all about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). I'll be diving more into MOOCs next week, but simply put, a MOOC is the big, bouncing baby of a webinar and a live online class. MOOCs allow for enrollment of thousands like a webinar (and are generally free and open) but require more hands-on activity like a live, online class, and can continue for weeks like an in-person college course. Often MOOC students are presented with a certificate of completion at course end, but some of these massive courses are even being administered for college credit.

What is your experience with online training? How big is too big? Is there such a thing as too big? Does it depend on the content? Feel free to share your comments below.

eLearning: Copyright Caboodle

by AJ George 

Copyright in the eLearning biz can get confusing. Can you use that awesome image you found on Google in your eLearning course? What if it's just for internal view? What if you're going to sell it? What if it's for a paying client to use internally? What if it's Creative Commons licensed?

I've previously written quite a bit on copyright and image usage as it applies to eLearning, but I frequently get inquiries about it, so I thought I'd compile what I've shared thus far here. 

Copyright information:

Is Using Copyrighted Materials Okay for eLearning? 

More on Copyright 

Image and Media Resources:

Free Image Sites 

Finding Google Images You Can Actually Use 

YouTube Adds Creative Commons Content 

Photopin, a New Stock Photo Resource 

Additionally, I have found a couple more interesting resources about Creative Commons licensing. The first is a video produced by Mohawk Media of New Zealand for Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand that does a great job explaining how Creative Commons licenses work.

The second is another stock photo resource that I hadn't previously heard of: Foter. Every time I try out a free stock photo resource, the first things I search for are "business man" and "business woman," because conservatively dressed and put together adults are always good choices for eLearning images. Foter didn't disappoint, as I was instantly led to a decent selection of free images that were licensed for commercial use. I definitely recommend this site. And check this out: one of the best things I found there is a blog post on How To Attribute Creative Commons Photos that includes this great Creative Commons infographic that gives you a decision-tree on how to proceed when you are planning to use Creative Commons material in any way.

  

Image source: http://foter.com/blog/how-to-attribute-creative-commons-photos

Training: Spaced Learning

by AJ George 

Do you have a large amount of information you'd like to teach quickly and effectively? While most trainers would agree that it's not a good idea to teach lots of information over a short amount of time, one learning method suggests the opposite.  

 

In an article first reported in Scientific American in 2005, R. Douglas Fields explored how temporal patterns of stimuli create long-term memories. These timed patterns formed the basis for a 2008 book by Paul Kelley called Making Minds, in which Kelley used the information reported by Fields to develop and test what he called the Spaced Learning method. The general idea of Spaced Learning is that large amounts of content are condensed and then repeated to students in brief sessions, separated by 10-minute breaks. During this time, learners perform unrelated motor activities.

 

In a previous article I wrote about Knowledge Guru and the use of repetition in eLearning. The article explored if the simple act of repetition is the key to learning. One of the comments I received about that article (from someone at Knowledge Guru, in fact) said that repetition is only part of the picture. Repetition in conjunction with spaced chunking of the content is more likely the key.

 

Here's how Spaced Learning works:

1. Present all the information you want your students to walk away with together in one big chunk. Try to do this in about 10 or 15 minutes. This learning theory doesn't give specifics on how long is too long or short; however, 15 minutes or less has been shown to work in live classroom settings. (In an eLearning setting you might do even shorter lessons.) The information could be presented live on PowerPoint slides or on a large board by a classroom or online instructor. In an asynchronous situation, the information could be presented using any of today's eLearning tools such as Captivate, Camtasia or Storyline.
2. After all of the information has been presented, take a 10-minute break. But not just any break. Use this 10-minute break to have your students do something completely unrelated to the core topic. Juggle. Make something with play-doh. Draw. Do anything to stimulate a different part of the brain.
3. Following the 10-minute break, return to the lesson. Start from the beginning, but present the information in a slightly different manner. For example, show the same slides, but with essential points and keywords left blank. Encourage your students to fill in these blanks. Work in a group and out loud if applicable. Don't hold back on giving hints or clues if your learner gets stuck. This session will probably go even faster than the original session.
4. Then take another 10-minute break to do something else unrelated. Make something else with play-doh. Dribble a basketball. You get the idea.
5. After completing the second 10-minute break, give your students an unassisted quiz (or similar assessment) in which they are able to apply the facts and information.

According to the Spaced Learning theory, information moves into long-term memory easier if the human brain gets a short break. The repetition of the same neural pathway sends the message to the brain that this information is important, which makes information retrieval easier.

 

The Space Learning method is being used and developed at Monkseaton High School in England (where Paul Kelley is Head teacher), and appears to be working out pretty well. Their curriculum consists of presentations developed by teachers using Spaced Learning as part of Innovation Unit's Learning Futures program. Learning Futures provides free open-source tools and guides to help schools implement the Spaced Learning method.  

 

What's your take on Spaced Learning? Are you using Spaced Learning in your training initiatives? Is it having a positive effect on student retention? Is it just a learning fad? Please feel free to post your comments.

Adobe TCS4 Suite Available Today!

Adobe just released the latest and greatest version of its Technical Communication Suite (TCS).

I'm a huge fan, and daily user, of the TCS. In my opinion, this suite puts all of the other Adobe suites to shame.

If you're a technical communicator, the TCS 4 contains the essentials tools needed to created technical documentation/PDFs (FrameMaker 11 and Acrobat), help systems (RoboHelp 10), technical illustrations (Illustrator CS6) and eLearning lessons (Captivate 6 and Presenter 8).

If you'd like to purchase the TCS or learn more about how the suite's tools work together, click here.